Maltreatment-associated neurodevelopmental disorders: a co-twin control analysis

Background: Childhood maltreatment (CM) is strongly associated with psychiatric disorders in childhood and adulthood. Previous findings suggest that the association between CM and psychiatric disorders is partly causal and partly due to familial confounding, but few studies have investigated the mechanisms behind the association between CM and neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). Our objective was to determine whether maltreated children have an elevated number of NDDs and whether CM is a risk factor for an increased NDD ‘load’ and increased NDD symptoms when controlling for familial effects. Methods: We used a cross-sectional sample from a population-representative Swedish twin study, comprising 8,192 nine-year-old twins born in Sweden between 1997 and 2005. CM was defined as parent-reported exposure to emotional abuse/neglect, physical neglect, physical abuse, and/or sexual abuse. Four NDDs were measured with the Autism–Tics, AD/HD, and other comorbidities inventory. Results: Maltreated children had a greater mean number of NDDs than nonmaltreated children. In a co-twin control design, CM-discordant monozygotic twins did not differ significantly for their number of NDDs, suggesting that CM is not associated with an increased load of NDDs when genetic and shared environmental factors are taken into account. However, CM was associated with a small increase in symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and autism spectrum disorder in CM-discordant MZ twins, although most of the covariance of CM with NDD symptoms was explained by common genetic effects. Conclusions: Maltreated children are at higher risk of having multiple NDDs. Our findings are, however, not consistent with the notion that CM causes the increased NDD load in maltreated children. Maltreated children should receive a full neurodevelopmental assessment, and clinicians should be aware that children with multiple NDDs are at higher risk of maltreatment

El sistema regional de Casas Grandes, Chihuahua, 1991

El presente informe se divide en dos partes. La primera parte es una descripción narrativa del proyecto de reconocimiento que reicentemente se llevó a cabo en el noroeste del estado de Chihuahua. Aquí se presenta el fondo del estudio, el metodo de recolección de datos, y una interpretación breve de los resultados mas importantes. Finalmente, se considera la cuestion de investigación futura en base de lo que hemos aprendido. La segunda parte del informe es un apéndice que contiene copias de las formas de inventario de todos los sitios localizados por el proyecto. Mapas topográficos, los cuales indican las localidades de todos los sitios, ya se han entregado al Centro Regional I.N.A.H. en Chihuahua

Investigaciones especializadas sobre el sistema regional de Paquimé, Chihuahua, México, noviembre de 1997

Tratar con todas las cuestiones que tenemos será un trabajo de muchos años y el presente proyecto toma los primeros pasos en este proceso. Llevamos a cabo un proyecto corto durante el verano de 1996 con el fin de llegar a una interpretación más elaborada de aspectos importantes de los datos de proyectos previos. Este proyecto consta de tres partes, cada una de las cuales nos auxiliará ubicar en una estructura analítica más segura los datos recogidos por proyectos anteriores. Específicamente, los tres partes del proyecto de 1996 son: (1) Pequeñas excavaciones para afinar un mejor entendimiento de la cronología del Período Medio, lo cual es sumamente importante a nuestra capacidad de establecer una seriación de los 400 sitios que hemos registrado. (2) Un estudio de los sistemas de terrazas agrícolas ubicados en los terrenos altos de la región. El cultivo de plantas en dichos terrenos parece haber formado una parte importante -­pero aún mal entendido -- del sistema grande de subsistencia que existía en la región al apogeo del Período Medio. (3) Una investigación de un posible sistema de comunicación por fuego. Di Peso (1974:3) sospechó que tal sistema formaba la base de un sistema de comunicación inter-regional. Ha existido esta idea por 30 años, pero nunca ha sido sistemáticamente investigado. Las páginas siguientes proveen una descripción de cada una de las tres partes del proyecto de 1996

Investigaciones sobre la estructura del sistema regional de Paquimé, Chihuahua: Excavaciones en el sitio 204, temporada de 2001

La investigación actual forma el primer paso en un esfuerzo grande que se dirigirá a dos preguntas que consideramos fundamentales respecto a la organización interna del sistema regional Paquimé. La primera pregunta tiene que ver con el nivel de organización e integración que existía entre las comunidades de la zona interior, mientras la segunda pregunta trata sobre los procesos de desarrollo y disminución de los grandes vecinos próximos al centro de Paqwmé. A continuación se presenta una discusión de cada aspecto

Investigaciones sobre la estructura del sistema regional de Paquimé, Chihuahua, México: Excavaciones en el sitio 93-242, septiembre de 1999

Desde 1989 los autores han llevado a cabo una serie de investigaciones sobre el carácter del Sistema Regional de Paquimé. La Figura 1 representa la región Paquimé. La temporada de 1989 fue el primer trabajo de investigación de Campo en la región después de la conclusión del Proyecto Conjunto Casas Grandes en 1961. El esfuerzo de 1989 consistió en un breve reCOnOCimientO de SUperficie en ZOnaS situadas a un rango de distancias alrededor de Paquimé (Minnis y Whalen 1990). Este proyecto pequeño nos proveyó una impresión preliminar de la naturaleza del sistema de asentamiento que caracterizó el noroeste de Chihuahua al período del apogeo del centro principal. Sin embargo, estos datos fueron limitados y sin el potencial de formar la base de explicaciones de procesos prehistóricos

What predicts persistent early conduct problems? Evidence from the Growing Up in Scotland cohort

Background: There is a strong case for early identification of factors predicting life-course-persistent conduct disorder. The authors aimed to identify factors associated with repeated parental reports of preschool conduct problems. Method: Nested caseecontrol study of Scottish children who had behavioural data reported by parents at 3, 4 and 5 years. Results: 79 children had abnormal conduct scores at all three time points ('persistent conduct problems') and 434 at one or two points ('inconsistent conduct problems'). 1557 children never had abnormal scores. Compared with children with no conduct problems, children with reported problems were significantly more likely to have mothers who smoked during pregnancy. They were less likely to be living with both parents and more likely to be in poor general health, to have difficulty being understood, to have a parent who agrees that smacking is sometimes necessary and to be taken to visit other people with children rarely. The results for children with persistent and inconsistent conduct problems were similar, but associations with poverty and maternal smoking were significantly less strong in the inconsistent group. Conclusion: These factors may be valuable in early identification of risk of major social difficulties

Adverse childhood experiences, epigenetics and telomere length variation in childhood and beyond: a systematic review of the literature

A systematic review following PRISMA guidelines was conducted to answer the question: What epigenetic, telomeric and associated biological changes are associated with exposure to adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) in the under 12s? Using PRISMA guidelines, appropriate databases were searched. 190 papers were returned with 38 articles fully reviewed. Articles were each independently quality rated by two authors using the Crowe Critical Appraisal Tool and data were extracted. Of the 38 articles, 23 were rated as very high quality. Most study participants were adults (n = 7769) with n = 727 child participants. Only seven of the very/high-quality studies were prospective and involved children. Methylation was the most studied method of epigenetic modification. There is some evidence supporting epigenetic modification of certain markers in participants exposed to ACEs measured in adulthood. Research is lacking on non-coding aspects of the epigenome and on coding aspects other than DNA methylation. There is some evidence of a more powerful effect on telomere length if physical neglect was involved. Much further work is required to model biological and psychological effects of epigenetic changes during childhood using prospective study designs. The effect of ACEs on the cellular ageing process during childhood is inadequately investigated and relies solely on measure of telomere length. Future research suggestions are proposed

Autism and attachment disorder symptoms in the general population : Prevalence, overlap, and burden

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by the Chief Scientist Office of the Scottish Government (CZG/2/565) and the Gillberg Neuropsychiatry Centre. We are grateful to all of the participants and to the Growing up in Scotland team for their support with this study. Funding: The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this articlePeer reviewedPublisher PD

Planning, implementation, and first results of the Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling Experiment (TC4)

The Tropical Composition, Cloud and Climate Coupling Experiment (TC4), was based in Costa Rica and Panama during July and August 2007. The NASA ER-2, DC-8, and WB-57F aircraft flew 26 science flights during TC4. The ER-2 employed 11 instruments as a remote sampling platform and satellite surrogate. The WB-57F used 25 instruments for in situ chemical and microphysical sampling in the tropical tropopause layer (TTL). The DC-8 used 25 instruments to sample boundary layer properties, as well as the radiation, chemistry, and microphysics of the TTL. TC4 also had numerous sonde launches, two ground-based radars, and a ground-based chemical and microphysical sampling site. The major goal of TC4 was to better understand the role that the TTL plays in the Earth's climate and atmospheric chemistry by combining in situ and remotely sensed data from the ground, balloons, and aircraft with data from NASA satellites. Significant progress was made in understanding the microphysical and radiative properties of anvils and thin cirrus. Numerous measurements were made of the humidity and chemistry of the tropical atmosphere from the boundary layer to the lower stratosphere. Insight was also gained into convective transport between the ground and the TTL, and into transport mechanisms across the TTL. New methods were refined and extended to all the NASA aircraft for real-time location relative to meteorological features. The ability to change flight patterns in response to aircraft observations relayed to the ground allowed the three aircraft to target phenomena of interest in an efficient, well-coordinated manner

Assessment of Global Annual Atmospheric Energy Balance from Satellite Observations

Global atmospheric energy balance is one of the fundamental processes for the earth's climate system. This study uses currently available satellite data sets of radiative energy at the top of atmosphere (TOA) and surface and latent and sensible heat over oceans for the year 2000 to assess the global annual energy budget. Over land, surface radiation data are used to constrain assimilated results and to force the radiation, turbulent heat, and heat storage into balance due to a lack of observation-based turbulent heat flux estimations. Global annual means of the TOA net radiation obtained from both direct measurements and calculations are close to zero. The net radiative energy fluxes into the surface and the surface latent heat transported into the atmosphere are about 113 and 86 Watts per square meter, respectively. The estimated atmospheric and surface heat imbalances are about -8 ~ 9 Watts per square meter, values that are within the uncertainties of surface radiation and sea surface turbulent flux estimates and likely systematic biases in the analyzed observations. The potential significant additional absorption of solar radiation within the atmosphere suggested by previous studies does not appear to be required to balance the energy budget the spurious heat imbalances in the current data are much smaller (about half) than those obtained previously and debated at about a decade ago. Progress in surface radiation and oceanic turbulent heat flux estimations from satellite measurements significantly reduces the bias errors in the observed global energy budgets of the climate system